Chiang Mai
We arrived in Chiang Mai on the 17th of February. It’s an area known for its hill tribe trekking, its temples (almost as many as in Bangkok even though the city is half the size), and its food. We were keen to get started on a Thai cooking course and so we booked one for the following day. We visited a local market to find out about ingredients and then we got stuck into learning how to cook six dishes of our choice. Among the things we learnt to cook were spring rolls, thai green curry, prawns with curry powder, papaya salad and chicken soup with coconut milk. It was a fantastic day! We ate everything we cooked and came away with a recipe book so we can try it all again at home (don’t expect any dinner invites until we have perfected the recipe!).
The following day we hopped on our hired motorbike and drove to one of Northern Thailand’s most famous temples - Wat Suthrep. It is perched 1676m up on a mountain and once again we had to face some long winding roads. Rich thought it was great fun but I was holding onto him squealing at every turn - it was scary even though Rich drove so well! We FINALLY reached the top only to see the main attraction covered in scaffolding (doh!) but because the temple has a lot of gold plated ornaments it was still quite impressive. The main monument (it’s called a chedi) also has 17kilos of real solid gold at the top.
That same evening we had booked tickets for the night train to Bangkok… it was an easy going journey which got us into the very sweaty city at 6:30am.
Bangkok
Ah… what a great place! As we stepped off the train we had some friendly information men offering their help. We found out local train times, bus routes to our hotel and the answers to a whole lot of other questions. They made it so easy for us and we loved it! We were soon on a free (yay!) local bus which stopped almost directly outside our hotel (another yay!) and we were checked in before we knew it. The hotel is like a boarding school dorm with prison type beds, a sink in the bedroom and tiny windows. It brought us a few giggles but we are staying coz it’s clean and cheap which is all we really need.
Day 1 in Bangkok was spent exploring the local backpacker area - it is a street lined with market stalls and bars but the humidity is so high that we didn’t last long outside. After an afternoon rest we jumped onto a river ferry which is a maim transport method in Bangkok (avoids the road traffic jams) and made our way to Chinatown and the evening flower market. All in all it was a productive and enjoyable day and we were looking forward to getting down to some serious shopping.
Day 2 was our shopping day. We headed out early to the weekend market - a market notorious for making you buy things you never knew were needed. We arrived at 10am and only left at about 2pm… we came away with 6 t-shirts, 2 girlie vests, 12 pairs of chopsticks, a pair of ’pearl’ earrings, a hand painted bag and 3 leather belts… it all cost £40 - bargain! We then headed to a mall to buy the bits we hadn’t been able to find. We eventually made it home after dark (around 6:30pm) absolutely exhausted. After a cold shower we treated ourselves to a leg and foot massage (£2 each - loving it!) where they pulled, pushed, stretched and yanked our legs and feet in various directions. It was sometimes sore but mostly quite good and we definitely felt more relaxed afterwards.
Today we relaxed for a bit and treated ourselves to an air-conditioned cinema where we watched Avatar on Imax. It was incredible and it was only £5 each! Tomorrow is our final day in Bangkok - we have a night train and morning ferry booked to Ko Tao - the scuba island where we will spend my birthday doing some diving before heading to Koh Phangang for the Full Moon Party.
Our trip has been amazing so far - a brilliant opportunity to meet new people and learn about different cultures. We miss aspects of England (roast potatoes and breakfast fry ups) but it has been definitely worth it! One of the best things about this trip has been the local people in every country - they are so friendly! Today we had a thai man start up a conversation with us on the bus; and even the tuk tuk drivers (renowned for trying to rip people off) offer their help with directions. We never get bored or cease to be amazed by their friendliness; it makes us smile on almost a daily basis.
Ah… what a great place! As we stepped off the train we had some friendly information men offering their help. We found out local train times, bus routes to our hotel and the answers to a whole lot of other questions. They made it so easy for us and we loved it! We were soon on a free (yay!) local bus which stopped almost directly outside our hotel (another yay!) and we were checked in before we knew it. The hotel is like a boarding school dorm with prison type beds, a sink in the bedroom and tiny windows. It brought us a few giggles but we are staying coz it’s clean and cheap which is all we really need.
Day 1 in Bangkok was spent exploring the local backpacker area - it is a street lined with market stalls and bars but the humidity is so high that we didn’t last long outside. After an afternoon rest we jumped onto a river ferry which is a maim transport method in Bangkok (avoids the road traffic jams) and made our way to Chinatown and the evening flower market. All in all it was a productive and enjoyable day and we were looking forward to getting down to some serious shopping.
Day 2 was our shopping day. We headed out early to the weekend market - a market notorious for making you buy things you never knew were needed. We arrived at 10am and only left at about 2pm… we came away with 6 t-shirts, 2 girlie vests, 12 pairs of chopsticks, a pair of ’pearl’ earrings, a hand painted bag and 3 leather belts… it all cost £40 - bargain! We then headed to a mall to buy the bits we hadn’t been able to find. We eventually made it home after dark (around 6:30pm) absolutely exhausted. After a cold shower we treated ourselves to a leg and foot massage (£2 each - loving it!) where they pulled, pushed, stretched and yanked our legs and feet in various directions. It was sometimes sore but mostly quite good and we definitely felt more relaxed afterwards.
Today we relaxed for a bit and treated ourselves to an air-conditioned cinema where we watched Avatar on Imax. It was incredible and it was only £5 each! Tomorrow is our final day in Bangkok - we have a night train and morning ferry booked to Ko Tao - the scuba island where we will spend my birthday doing some diving before heading to Koh Phangang for the Full Moon Party.
Our trip has been amazing so far - a brilliant opportunity to meet new people and learn about different cultures. We miss aspects of England (roast potatoes and breakfast fry ups) but it has been definitely worth it! One of the best things about this trip has been the local people in every country - they are so friendly! Today we had a thai man start up a conversation with us on the bus; and even the tuk tuk drivers (renowned for trying to rip people off) offer their help with directions. We never get bored or cease to be amazed by their friendliness; it makes us smile on almost a daily basis.
Check out our Thailand photos at
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2186263&id=60506421&l=cfe81d4dae
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2186263&id=60506421&l=cfe81d4dae
Lots of love
S&R. xxxxx
S&R. xxxxx
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